Vols. for 1994-1995 distributed to depository libraries in microfiche.

General Note:

Special "80th anniversary supplement" issue published on Aug. 12, 1994.

General Note:

Special ed. for 65th anniversary of the Panama Canal issued at end of Oct. 1979, is also a joint issue with: The News: authorized unofficial publication of the U.S. Armed Forces, Quarry Heights, Panama, and includes the text of the Panama Canal Act.

LeRoy B. Magnuson, Assistant
Comptroller-Budget and Rates, who
will retire and leave the Isthmus
January 3, has had an enviable Isth-
mian career of more than 41 years
service with the Panama Canal organ-
ization. Much of his early service was
in accounting work and then he
changed to the budgeting aspect of
Panama Canal financial management
which he headed for years. He was
the first to have the title Assistant
Comptroller-Budget and Rates,
Magnuson, who has not yet reached
mandatory retirement age, started at
13 as a messenger at $17.50 monthly
at the old Balboa commissary. That
was on July 13, 1917-at noon. The

'"o'o!':"' th osmao d tenan s su
singer in a hurry. This lasted until
he returned to school in the fall.
Two years later, at 15, he worked
another summer for the Panama
Canal at a higher rate and a different
designation.Inl921,whentheCanal
Zone witnessed a brief strike, he
became a chauffeur temporarily. After
this he went to the States to attend
college. Magnuson's father, Charles,
was a Building Division inspector.
As Chief of the Budget and Rates
Division and later as Assistant Comp-
troller, Magnuson accompanied gov-
ernors and comptrollers going to
Washington to attend budget hear-
ings and to defend their budgets
before Congress. He gained great

Office of Com troller
9
Unit Moves Announced

The Claims Branch will be open
for business Monday at its new loca~
tion, Building 38, Balboa, adjacent to
the Shoe Section. The Systems Staff
will occupy the space on the third
floor of the Administration Building
vacated by the Claims Branch, with
entrance in Room 304. These changes
were necessitated by space require-
ments for the electronic computer
installation in the Administration
Building.

projects, some of which have had
to be deferred.
The Electrical Division, with the
cooperation of all divisions and bu-
reaus in the Panama Canal organiza-
tion and the military services, is
sponsoring a voluntary conservation
program aimed at paring electrical
power use to the bone. All employees
soon will see the sign in the adjoining
column posted by every light switch
and electrical appliance in Panama
Canal facilities. All employees are
asked to heed it.
Other measures suggested in offices,
shops, and other facilities are:
Turn off all entry and hallway
lights.
Turn off all room lights during
lunch periods and when closing for
the day. It has been suggested that
each agency appoint motors to
insure that this is done.
Turn off all room type air condi-
tioners during lunch periods and at
quitting time. Agam, a morntor
would be helpful.

Survey work space to be sure that
areas are not being lighted which
don't need it.
Electrical Division officials are
hopeful that a voluntary conserva-
tion program will produce the
savings desired and enlists the
assistance of every employee. If
this program is not sufficient, how-
ever, it was pointed out that arbi-
trary reductions will be taken.
These might include:
1. Arbitrary reductions in air
conditioning, both in offices and in
houses.
2. Deferring or cancellation of
much-needed projects using large
amounts of electricity, such as the
new school program.
3. An increase in rates to dis-
courage use.
4. Elimination of service for
definite periods during the day.
Occupants of PanCanal housing
can help in a real way and at the
(Continued on p. 4)

The problem of providing generat-
ing capacity to meet the increasing
load may be illustrated simply:
To provide generating capacity
to operate one 2-ton domestic air
conditioner costs more than the air
conditioner costs the householder,
(A large generator costs about
$200 per installed kilowatt of capacity
or about $400 to provide the approxi-
mately 2 kilowatts the air condi-
tioner would draw.)
Also, of course, as utilization is
increased, additional capital funds
are required for such items as more
and larger transmission lines, trans-
formers, and incidental equipment to
handle the load increase,
Even after the funds for new
generating plants are made available,
it takes from IV2 to 3 years to plan,
design, purchase and install them.
To put the high capital cost of
generating equipment into perspec-
tive in the overall PanCanal financial
picture:
If a conservation effort can re-

duce new plant capacity require-

The electrical power system of the
Panama Canal faces a critical test of
its ability to meet customer demands.
The generating system now is
barely able to meet its loads and at
one time recently was able to do so
only by overloading some of the
plants.
The situation started to develop in
the mid-1950's when it was decided
to convert the turn-of-the century
25-cycle system to a modern 60-cycle
system, thus permitting standard
comfort and convenience electrical
appliances to be installed,
Demand on the electrical power
generating system since that time
has virtually doubled, and is ex-
pected to increase by, another 50
percent by the end of 1966.
One new generating unit is being
installed at the Miraflores power sta
tion, but it will not be ready until
early in 1966. Until then, it will be
necessary for all electric power users
to practice the utmost in economy if
service is to be maintained.

M

experience in this facet of the budget
activity and was of the utmost assist-
ance to the various top officials with
whom he worked in Washington.
He has witnessed the tremendous
growth in the budget activity of the
Canal organization and the growing
importance of the rates activity,
under his direction.
A keen photographic fan, he and
his wife, Jerie, have gone to many
countries in this part of the world
with the Diablo Heights Camera
Club.
Magnuson has been an inveterate
(Continued on p. 4)

ir

LeRoy B. Magnuson

1

Robert Bowen confers with Robert Bowen-Both are supervisory auditors in
the Panama Canal's Internal Audit Branch. Each has a red-haired daughter
and a red-haired son. Both have lived in New York. But neither ever knew
of the existence of the other until the Robert Bowen at the left came to
the Canal Zone in 1957.

OUble Entry Bookkeeping.
)
O, $Ut T STE SB PTO@EU

A jackknife cot, a wooden box to
sit on, and handful of nails to drive
into the walls-upon which to hang
clothes-were all the furnishings pro-
vided newly arrived carpenters when
Karl Phillip Curtis came to the Isth-
mus. And their home away from home
was a bleak barracks building at the
old Canal townsite of Culebra. Many
left, but Karl Curtis remained to do
his part in building up the Canal
communities as they are today.
He helped organize the local car-
penters' union and is the first and
only 50-year member on the Isthmus
of Local 913, United Brotherhood
of Carpenters and Joiners of America.
In recognition of his half-century as
a member in good standing, he was
honored at a gathering at the
Gamboa Club and was presented a
50-year membership pin.
Presentation was made by B. S.
Spangled, president of the local car-
penters' union, who later returned
dressed as Santa Claus and on behalf
of the union also presented Curtis a
desk pen set fashioned from old,
original French railroad ties and rail.
wife Receives Gift
Mrs. Curtis, a construction days
nurse, received from the union a

pair of Cape Cod hurricane lamps
with lignum vitae bases, a replica of
those that date back to 1756. Miss
Katherine Taliercio, R.N., presented
her a beautiful orchid corsage from
the nurses' union.
Forty-seven members and guests
of the carpenters' union were present
to honor Curtis and Mrs. Curtis at
the dinner party. Spangled gave a
short talk on the history of car-
pentry, going back to Adam, the
building of Solomon's Temple, and
the story of the Master Craftsman,
stressing the "proud heritage we
have as carpenters."
Curtis reminisced on the construc-
tion days era and related many anec-
dotes. Talks also were given by the
vice president of the carpenters'
union, Robert Mecaskey, and by
Robert L. Thompson, Administrative
Assistant at Corgas Hospital.
Has Or IP
igina apers
Curtis, who has spent most of his
life on the Isthmus, is a native of
Topsfield, Mass. In his files he has his
appointment to employment as a car-
penter in the Engineering Depart-
ment of the Isthmian Canal Com-
mission issued by the Office of the
(Continued on p. 4)

Robert Bowen is the name shared
by two supervisory auditors in the
Panama Canal's General Audit Divi-
sion. Fortunately for personnel and
payroll, they have different initials.
Robert S. Bowen was born in New
York City, but first came to the Isth-
mus, at Portobelo when a baby. His
father was in the surveying party
working on the breakwater out of
Cristobal Harbor. He also lived in
Gatun, the old U.S. community in
Pedro Miguel, and in Ancon and
Balboa before going to school in the
States.
When he returned to the Canal
Zone he worked with the Shipping
and Statistical Section, now the
Executive Planning Staff. Then he
was in the budget section at Gorgas
Hospital, in the Cost Accounting Sec-
tion of the Accounting Division and
finally in the Internal Audit Branch
with about 28 years' Canal service
behind him.
He married here and his wife,

Marian, is a secretary at the Admin-
istration Building. They have three
children, Mary Anne, who is with
IBM in New York; Robert, Jr., a
student at the University of Santa
Clara, in California; and Russell
(Rusty) who is in the 8th Grade at
St. Mary's School.
Robert N. Bowen is a graduate of
Pacific Union College in California.
During the war years he taught
printing in California and Tennessee
and ran a small commercial print
shop. How come? He learned printing
at school, he explains, and earned
some of his college expense money
by working at printing,
In 1946 he came to the Isthmus for
the first time as an accountant with
the Pacific Press in Cristobal. He had
worked with this firm, a non-profit
religious organization, in California
and when they needed an accountant
here transferred to the Isthmus. When
the Pacific Press branch closed in
(Continued on p. 4)

ice 3,000 feet thick in the Columbian
ice fields.
They then drove to Dawson Creek
in British Columbia. Here, for the
first time, they ran into adverse
weather. Heavy rains had washed
away bridges and roads.
Dawson Creek, at mile zero, was
the beginning of 1,528 miles to Fair-
banks, Alaska. The highway, although
made of gravel, is in excellent con"
edition, permitting 50 mile speeds.
Camping facilities are of the finest
found anywhere.
In Fairbanks they took a small
plane to Fort Yukon and spent a day
with the Indians. It was here that
they crossed the Arctic Circle.
Starting again from Fairbanks, they
took the loop to Dawson City, the
town remembered through the fabul-
ous tales told by Jack London of the
Klondike gold rush days. Dredges
have replaced the miner and his pan*
It was near Dawson that lone miner
took out more than $40,000 worth of
gold a year using pan and shovel.
Today dredges are extracting about
$2 million worth of gold from the
river gravels each year.
In Dawson the flavor of frontier
days is still preserved. The bankers
and storekeepers wear 1898 style
clothes, top hats and high button
shoes. T eir rien iness is outstan -
ing. Free movies are given for the
campers twice a week. Firewood is
brought to the campers and this, too,
is free. Old-fashioned hospitality is
a keynote in Alaska,
On the loop between Dawson and
Whitehorse, on the Alaska highway,
the Hughes and the Pooles met
tourists Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood. It
was Mr. Lockwood who spotted the
Canal Zone license plates,
The campers' diet consisted mostly
of fish-lake trout. This part of
Alaska offers some of the best fishing
in the world. The trout was a gour-
,
met s delight, eaten with a back-
ground of scenic mountains, a beauti-
ful park, or a sparkling lake. They

eu sethof i pr efishora b s"
A loaf of bread cost 50 cents, a dozen
eggs, $1.25. Alaska is a paradise for
camping and fishing but the cost of
living is very high according to Canal
Zone standards.
On the return trip the Hughes and
the Pooles visited Glacier National
Park, Sun Valley, and drove east to
Niagara Falls. From the falls, they
headed south to Gettysburg, then on
to Luray Caverns.
The Poole car clocked 17,000 miles '
the Hughes car 14,000 on this un-
forgetable summer of fishing and
camping, a summer of incredible
beauty and friendly people,
They are going back to Alaska and
big game hunting. Besides trout in
the skillet, they are planning on bear
steak and venison next time.

COnverted Tanker
I i n Es
HIORUS Lement r RSt

A ship designed to unload cement
at the rate of 3,000 barrels an hour,
passed through the Canal northbound
recently on her way to Freeport,
Bahamas. She was the SS Coral
Venture, a World War II tanker con-
verted in Kuri, Japan, for the
National Bulk Carriers '
With her present type of machin-
ery, it is expected that the Coral
Venture will be able to carry coral
cement in dust form from the Baha-
MRS to the U.S. east coast. She will
unload her cargo by an aeration pro-
cess considered more efficient than
any now employed. The 464-foot
carrier is owned by the Argyll Ship-
ping CO., Ltd., and operated under
a British flag.

GATUN: 2:00 p.m.-Snow White And The
Three Stooges-The wonderful story of
Snow White with a new look. (In Color.)
(113 min.)

SEEING AT NIGHT
You see less at night and so do
other drivers. Vision studies prove
that your sight distance shrinks the
faster you go. At 20 m.p.h. a driver
can see and identify objects 80 feet
further away than he can at 60 m.p.h.
This narrowing and shortening of the
Visual field, plus the efficiency of the
headlights, plus your stopping dis-
tance all determine your safe speed
at night.

Stae ruiSO Rie IC SI d
Booki f ass es has started for
ng op ag
the first cruise directly from the Port
of Los Angeles for Haifa, marking
the first time any passenger liner has
linked the U.S. west coast with
Israel. The new liner will transit
the Panama Canal and Balboa is to
be one of the ports of call.
The SS Theodor Herzl's voyage
will begin April 27. The new ship's
maiden voyage has been booked
exclusively by the Los Angeles
Chapter of Hadassah.

The PANAMA CANAL SPILLWAY IS &II
n Clblicatimeig ts, the.Z.Panarna
articles contained in it are made avail-
able to all interested news media for
whatever use they may wish to make
of them and may be reprinted without
official clearance.
ROBERT FLEMINc, Jr-
Governor of the canal zone

Two Panama Canal employees sat
up all night once last summer chat-
ting with a former PanCanal em-
ployee-near the Arctic Circle. The
subject of their talk: mostly the
Panama Canal, of course.
Hilt F
Hu s, eCm she adden dro-
electric Station, and John H. Poole,
E etrical Divisimident1ral offi e s
P
Mortimer H. Lockwood, 80, who
*
held a position similar to Hughes
before his retirement.
Hughes and Poole met Lockwood
while on an extensive camping and
fishing trip to Alaska during which
they explored parts of the 49th State
d d the Arctic Circl
an crosse e.
Hughes and his son, Robert, 14,
started out in New Orleans. Poole
went to Philadelphia for his 17 year
old niece, and then to San Diego,
Calif. to pick up a nephew, John
Poole, 16.
They met as a group in Pocatello,
Idaho, where Hughes' daughter,

Nancy Folsom, lives. Station wagons
packed with fishing gear, camping
equipment and plenty of dehydrated
food, carried them on a 90-day trek
that was to take them across frozen
lakes and breathtaking scenery with
startling contrasts of snow-covered
mountain tops and green slopes.
From Pocatello, the group motored
to the Teton Mountains, a section of
the Rockies in Wyoming, visited
Grand Teton National Park, and then
went on to Yellowstone National
Park. Here they fished and enjoyed
awe-inspiring vistas of mountains and
canyons in their glorious colors. They
saw moose, bear, elk, deer, and
sheep and other wildlife in the area
of lakes, cascades, outing geysers
and majestic spruce and fir.
The two cars wound their way
through Montana, north to Banff
National Park and Lake Louise in
Canada, and then on to Jasper Na-
tional Park with its spectacular
glaciers and snow-covered peaks.
Here they climbed a 9,500-foot
mountain, and rode a snow "cat" over

W HO Am I?
I belong to no age, for men have
I h d
ways urrie
I prod all human endeavor.
Men believe me necessary-but
falsely.
I rush today because I was not
planned yesterday.
d d
co cenetma on.excessive energy and
I override obstacles, but at great
expense-
My ath is strewn with evils of
overtime, mistakes, and disappoint-
mentS
I give life to the panic button.
Accuracy and quality often give
way to my needs.
I illustrate the old saying: Haste
makes waste."
Ruthlessly I believe everything
depends on out-rushin' the Russians.
I convince far too many peopl
that they gotta have it yesterday.
I lead people to believe they can
sprint from a dead stop to top
speed without shifting gears, without
causing harmful strain.
I am a rush job.

December 18, 1964

Pag 2

SOMYT SCHEDULE

Panama Canal Main Topic

At The M~ovies

The Canal Zone postal clerk does
not wear a uniform, carry a mailbag
over his shoulder, nor brave the
rugged elements of the weather to
which the U.S. letter carrier is
exposed. But 100 postal employees
and 21 substitute postal clerks, who
provide postal services in the Canal
Zone are kept busy with the daily
postal load, and rushed with the
seasonal increases in volume of mail.
Mail volume this year exceeds pre-
vious years substantially. In Novem-
her 1963, 473,138 pounds of mail was
received and dispatched in the Canal
Zone Postal Division. Figures for the
same month in 1964 show 513,020
pounds of mail processed. Last
December 536,349 pounds of mail
were handled, and by the looks of
the mountains of mail arriving
daily, this December promises more
stag ering statistics.
.
Besides handling this enormous
amount of mail, Canal Zone postal
clerks issue approximately 25,000
mone orders each month,
Postal business in the Canal Zone
is carried on at two main Post Offi-
ces-one in Balboa, the other, at
Cristobal. There are 10 branch post
offices on the Pacific side of the Isth.
mus and 6 in the Atlantic area. One
mail-handling unit is located in the
Civil Affairs Building,
The Canal Zone follows the same
policy as the U.S. Postal Department

December 18, 1964

THE PANAMA CANAL SPILLWAY

Page 3

"NVeither Snow, N~or Rain,

in the distribution of mail boxes, pro-
viding one street letter box in each
community. Several other boxes are
provided for civic reasons.
The mail box at the Civil Affairs
Building is to accommodate people
mailing airmail letters for the final
evening pickup that goes out early
in the morning. The mail box on
Amador Road, a direct route from
anchorage, is there for ships' mail.
Mail boxes at the docks are placed
there to accommodate ship passengers
and crews.
Pick-up men make 28 scheduled

f

runs to and from the post office, street . 1
letter boxes, and trains on the Pacific . I
side of the Isthmus, picking up and .
distributing mail daily. On the :
Atlantic side, postal pick-up men n .. -
have 16 distribution routes. On Satur- In appreciation of her services as a volunteer receptionist at the Gorgas
days, Sundays, and holidays there are Hospital Blood Donor Center, Mrs. Gloria Hollingsworth (second from left)
fewer runs and pick-ups are not as was presented a volunteer's medal by Col. Harry D. Offutt, Jr., Director of
Gorgas Hospital, in a ceremony in his once. Standing beside Mrs. Hollings-
frequent. worth is Mrs. Ellen Castles, chairman of the volunteer receptionist program,
At present there are 10,494 post and at right is Mrs. Dorothy Hadstate, who is in charge of the Blood Donor
office box holders in the Canal Zone, Center. Mrs. Hollingsworth had served about 250 hours as a volunteer
including box holders in the military receptionist at the Blood Donor Center. She and her husband, Dr. Stuart
W. Hollingsworth, and their two children have left the Isthmus for their
areas. There is little turnover of new home in Santa Clara, Calif.
postal box holders in the Zone except
for military personnel coming and
going after tours of duty. BLOOD BANK HONOR ROLL
The mountains of mail received
and dispatched daily in the Canal GORGAS HOSPITAL
Zone is moved from place to place by
five vehicles assigned on a rental basis HEALTH BUREAU OTHER
to the Postal Division by the Motor Elizabeth Brown Kenneth R. A. Booth
Transportation Division. At the peak Kenneth A. Joseph mebar O.aBlurgoon
of the Christmas season it may be Richa J. Powell Russel J. Jones
necessary for the Motor Transporta- TRANSPORTATION AND James G. E. Maguire
tion Division to make available an TERMINALS BUREAU ilbiam PM ville
extra truck or two. Willard O. Robinson Matthew Simpson

Junior and senior Life Saving
Classes to be offered at the Balboa
pool beginning next week will
continue through January 2.
All interested should register at the
pool. The course will consist of
approximately 18 hours of instruc-
tion. Class hours will be announced
A Quiet Game of Bambu, by Roger at the time of registration.
Gouze. Looking forward to a pleasant To qualify for the senior course,
Christmas holiday among friends the participant must be 16 years old
French Police Inspector Paul Colson or a junior in high school, and be
is, instead, put to work in solving the able to pass a preliminary swimming
mystery surrounding the death of one test.
of his friends. An envelope marked To qualify for the junior course,
"To be opened in case of death," the person enrolled must be 12 years
which he had found in his pocket old or in the 7th grade, and able to
and which he had taken as one of pass the preliminary swimming test.
his friends' pranks, soon had grim The swimming test consists of
significance when he was forced to ability to swim continuously 440
open it. The incongruity of murder yards.
among friends who like best to play
an amiable game of bambu with one Ex SS Panama
another makes this a most suspense-
ful puzzler. (A knowledge of bambu, NOw the Regma
a card game similar to bridge played
in France, is not essential in under- The former SS Panama of the
standing the plot, but, as a special Canal organization has been rechris-
bonus, the rules for the game are tened, again. Now the vessel is the
printed in the back of the book.) SS Regina and she is expected to
Malcolm F. Willoughby, Com- transit the Canal in the near future.
meander, USCCR(T) dedicated his This is the third name in the past
Rum War at Sea to "the officers and 7 years for the former Panama Canal
men of the U.S. Coast Guard who liner. The Panama was purchased in
served their country from 1920 to 1957 by the American President
1935." This covered the prohibition Lines and was renamed after the late
period during which officers and President Herbert Hoover. Now the
men of the U.S. Coast Guard had no ship has been sold to International
choice but to fight this hard and Cruises, a Panamanian corporation,
unremitting battle in their effort to and will be transferred to the flag of
win the "Rum War." The book in- Creece.
clues numerous black-and-white The SS Regina, will be used in
photographs, an appendix which lists cruising, perhaps worldwide, or may
rum runners taken over by the Coast be entered in a passenger-cargo
Guard between 1925 and April 15, operation in the Mediterranean. The
1935, an excellent index and a fore- vessel has been laid up on the west
word by Admiral Roland, Comman coast since last April.
dant of the U.S. Coast Guard. The
book, published by the U.S. Govern- In 26 years of war 602,000 combat
ment Printing OAce, is well docu- deaths were reported. In the past 26
melted and carefully researched. It is years there have been 944,000 traffic
also very exciting reading. deaths.

ppp p
strip mining shovel at work in J 1
western Kentucky moves earth, trees,
and boulders at a rate of twice as COLL 6 CTIOn
much each year as the 77 shovels
that dug the Panama Canal. By Beverly Williams
It gobbles 173 tons at each bite, Patton: Ordeal and Triumph, by
digs its way forward about 600 feet Ladislas Farago. Those who have
a day, and swings to dump the load read the recent biography of Patton,
more than 400 feet away. It is oper- Before the Colors Fade, may find it
ated by one man sitting in an air- interesting to compare it with this
conditioned, picture window control new one. All will find it highly read-
booth ve stories in the air. The able. The former, written by a
boom of the shovel towers as high nephew of the general, Frederick
as a 20-story building. Ayer, is largely personal recollections.
Built 3 years ago, the shovel is at Farago takes a long (885 pages),
work at the Peabody Coal Co. s Sin- hard look at the controversial soldier
clair mine. The floor of the canyon in this the most informative biography
which it is digging is a 6-foot seam of Patton yet published. The author,
of coal. whose other books have been con-
cerned with intelligence and military
Awards To Be Given history, served in World War II as
an intelligence officer and has served
To 32 Volunteers as confidential consultant to Radio
Free Europe.
Civil Defense certificates and The Old Gods Laugh. Frank Yerby
American National Red Cross cards has chosen for this novel a setting of
will be presented 32 volunteers from a present-day revolution-torn Carib-
Paraiso and Pedro Miguel at a meet- bean country. Peter Reynolds, a
ing and Christmas party to be held battle-scarred American foreign cor-
Monday at the Paraiso High School respondent is caught in the struggle
Auditorium, starting at 7:30 p.m. against the ruler. There is enigma in
The 32 volunteers completed the the person of Padre Pio, who Peter
12-hour course conducted by William knows holds the key to the revolution,
H. Cordon of Paraiso, an employee romance in the form of Alicia the
of the Dredging Division and a Chief's daughter, and violence-man-
volunteer instructor. made and natural (when the local
At the end of this month William volcano erupts). The author calls this
Gordon will complete 20 years a modern romance and hopes readers
service as a Red Cross volunteer. will find it a rousing story.
Record Houses of 1964. Each year
Periodic vision checks are a must the periodical, Architectural Record,
as you grow older. The average publishes Record Houses which fea-
55-year-old driver with 20/20 vision tures the 20 winners of the Record's
needs twice as much light as the Award of Excellence for House
20-year-old with the same visual Design. In addition to a complete
rating. Visual defects are exaggerated report on each of the most significant
at night. In today's traffic small houses of the year, there are articles
errors can make" the difference on kitchen planning, new products
between life and death, and new literature for home planning.

Blood Donor

Centers Need
,
Receptionasts
A telephone rings in the middle of
the night. A few words are ex-
changed. The person who received
the call hurriedly dresses, backs the
car out of the garage and heads for
Gorges Hospital. Doctor? Special
nurse? Wrong.
The call was received by a volun-
teer receptionist at the Blood Donor
Center at Gorgas Hospital. But that
call in the middle of the night 'is
the exception, not the rule in the
hours the volunteer receptionist
works.
As a general rule, a volunteer
receptionist at the Gorgas Blood
_ Donor Center works every other
week, about 3 hours in the morning
or the afternoon. There are two shifts,
from 9 to 11:30 a.m., and from 1 to
h als ab
p.m. T eir service tot out 100
hours a year.
The position is one that has
received little acclaim, and is filled
by women of the Cana Zone com-
munity who work without pay and
without glory, behind the scenes but
in an important job. Their work is to
interview and screen blood donors.
Volunteer receptionists are always
needed, and anyone on the Pacific
side interested in volunteering is
asked to contact Mrs. Ellen Castles,
wife of Superintendent of Schools
F. A. Castles, at Balboa 3322.
A similar volunteer receptionist
program for the Coco Solo Hospital
Blood Bank is being planned and all
Atlantic side women who wish to
volunteer their services are asked to
call Mrs. Susan Smith at 34-65.

7- *
& 8 Offff

Classes Set

Can't Keep Appointment

At CIm.c? Then Cancel.

-e- Coco Solo Hospital has long wait- early as possible so that another
ing ihts for some of its clinics. paltl tn anbe) schedule 1.sh

Because of "no shows"-people be made well in advance of the
who break their hospital appoint- scheduled time.

Late arrival for appointments
results in confusion and causes extra
work at the clinics. Appointments
made for a specific time cannot be
held open more than 30 minutes after
the scheduled time.
The telephone numbers of the Coco
Solo clinics are:
General Outpatient _ __ _ 34-55
Obstetrics, Cynecology, and
Pediatrics _ _ _ 34-03
Dental _ _ _ _ 34-13
Medical and Surgical _ 34-60
Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat 34-63
Nights, weekends, holidays
(admitting desk) (emer-
ge ----- ---ncies only) 3-1211

MagHUSOn Retiring
(Continued from p. 1)
fisherman in recent years and enjoyed
many trips along the coastline of
Panama. He has caught many game
fish, including sailfish, but is cha-
grined that he has never landed a,
tarpon. His many fishing excursions
qualified Magnuson as an "Offshore
inspector.
One of the things for which Mag-
nuson is known to his close friends is
his reluctance to go to the coffee shop
in the Administration Building. When
he does go, which is rarely, he takes
bouillon.
His close associates, wishing to
play a practical joke on him, arranged
that he was standing in line when
L. A. Ferguson, Supply and Com-
munity Service Director, stepped up
to award a big certificate to the 10
millionth customer of the Heights
cafeteria. He has been presented the
certificate along with a photo record
of the occasion.
More likely to be displayed during
the retirement years is the Dis-
tinguished Service Award which
Magnuson received from Governor
Fleming, tribute to his consistently
outstanding service as a senior official
of the Office of the Comptroller.
LeRoy and Jerie Magnuson both
are possessors of keys to the Canal
presented to them in a recent cere-
mony in the Board Room.
When 100 of their closest asso-
ciates feted them with a buffet aboard
the Las Cruces, the boat was even
rechristened temporarily to become
the M/V Magnuson for the special
moonlight cruise.

clinic,-the clinic should be notified as

Which Bob Bowen?
IContinued from p. 1)
1953 he returned to the U.S. branch
for 3 years.
Returning to the Canal Zone in
January 1957, he became a member
of the Internal Audit staff and his
service has been continuous with this
b h
rane
He was married in California to the
former Dorothy Jones. Their son,
Ronald, and daughter, Virginia, are
both married and live in the States,
What more do the two Robert
Bowens share besides the same name?
For one thing, each has a son and a
daughter with red hair. Robert N.
Bowen likes music and plays the
trombone. Robert S. Bowen's son
plays the drums. Robert N. Bowen is
a yachtsman, a member of the Balboa
Yacht Club, and his hobby is boat-
building. He has built two before
the one he has now-an auxiliary sail
boat, in which he cruises to the San
Blas and Perlas Islands. Robert S.
Bowen's father's hobby was boating.
His own hobbies are golf, fishing,
bridge, and bowling and he modestly
says he has "also ran" trophies in
bowling and golf.

Junk is anything that lies around
in the way for 10 years and you
throw it away 2 weeks before you
need it.

quarters for employees were begun.
On December 14, 1914, at a meet-
ing held in the old Ancon clubhouse,
which later burned, Curtis was in-
stalled as the first president of Local
913, United Brotherhood of Car-
penters and Joiners of America. Joe
Johnston, a Building Division car-
penter and a member of a carpenters
local in Philadelphia, had written
headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind.,
for the permit and installed the
officers. Twenty-three members joined
at that time. Curtis was president for
2 years and then was recording
secretary for many years-

Power Load "Critical"
(Cont d from 1)
inue p.
same time save themselves money,
Suggestions here include:
Train yourselves, children, and
maids to get in the habit of turning
lights off in unoccupied rooms.
Keep exterior lights to an absolute
minimum.
Use the clothesline for drying the
weekly wash instead of that kilowatt
eating electric dryer, especially in
the coming dry season which is our
worst period because of the inability
to use Gatun Lake water and operate
the Gatun hydro station.
Keep air conditioners adjusted to
the minimum for comfort. Turn them
off altogether when you leave your
house. Turn them off altogether at
bedtime or air condition bedrooms
only.
Conserve water. Although the
water is cheap, the electric power it
takes to pump it to your tap isn't.
To the householder a kilowatt
saved is money in the pocket. At
current rates a 2-ton air condi-
tioner costs about $10 a month to
operate, if run continuously; a
single 100 watt light bulb about
30 cents.
conservation errorw-car, do the
most good if aimed at the peak load
periods. The absolute peak each day
OCCUTS between 10:30 and 11:30
in the mornings and is almost twice
the minimum, which occurs in the
early morning hours. Householders
and employees alike can help sub-
stantially by scheduling use of large
electricity using machines in the late
afternoon hours or at night after
9 p.m.
The question of Christmas lighting
arises. Answer--modest lighting deco-
rations will be permitted this year on
a trial basis if the generating plants
can carry the load. Lighting should,
however, be restricted to the evening
hours only and each householder
should cut off an equivalent of other
; lighting or -electrical appliances,

-- ;

December 18, 1964

THE PANAMA CANAL SPILLwAY

Yage a

ments without notice.
During the month of November
alone, 197 patients failed to keeP
their appointments at Coco Solo Hos-
pital clinics. And when one considers
that "no shows" keep 5 to 10 patients
a day from receiving attention in a
clinic at the hospital, simply because
appointments were not canceled, the
number soars.
Clinics at a hospital are scheduled

9 for the convenience of clinic patients.
These clinics operate on appoint-
ment schedules for the comfort and
convenience of the patients, with an
effort made to reduce waiting time
and to avoid overcrowding, and to
e the distribute the workload so that physi-
uring cians can utilize their time efficiently.
913,
mus. The schedules ensure, too, that other
departments such as the clinical
laboratory can plan their work.
Should a patient find it impossible
to keep an appointment at a hospital

Yesteryear at Culebra: The Panama Canal Administration Building was under construction, destined to hous
offices of Col. George W. Goethals and Engineer John F. Stevens, when the above photograph was taken d
a Construction Day noonhour. In the second row, fourth from right, is Karl P. Curtis, first president of Local
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, and first and only 50-year member on the Isth

ORStruct/On ayS Carpenter Honored by Union

Holds Roosevelt Medal
Curtis holds the Roosevelt Medal
for 8V2 years' construction service. His
medal has three bars, year bars rep-
resenting 2 years: 1907-1909, 1909-
1911; and 1911-1913.
During his years of service with
the Panama Canal, he worked on the
Chief Engineer's house for John F.
Stevens, which was finished in the
spring of 1906, and on quarters and
clubhouses at Empire and Cristobal.
In November 1907 he transferred to
Ancon Hospital as maintenance fore-
man and was employed there until
November 30, 1940, when he retired
due to ill-health.
He left the Isthmus that year and
with his wife went to Chile. Up in
the Andes he recovered his health,
toured Argentina by car and then
after visiting Peru, Ecuador, and
Colombia they returned to the
Isthmus in June 1941.
Curtis was the first man to discover
the Cocle and Veraguas culture and
through his hobby has formed firm
friendships with officials of Harvard,
Yale, the Smithsonian Institution,
the University of Pennsylvania, and
Brooklyn Museum-
Mrs. Curtis has been here since
1914. She was a nurse and joined her
sister, who was a nurse at Ancon
Hospital.
She went to the Interior of Pan-
ama with her husband, accompanied
him to South America, and shared
his night of honor at the Gamboa
Club.

SS Advance of the Panama Railroad
Line on October 7, 1905, and arrived
in Colon October 14, with 22 other
ca enters. All were sent to Culebra
w re they were assigned a barracks
building, a one-story screened strue.
ture without ceiling or windows.
A 24-inch opening under the roof
provided the only ventilation and
light. In an ell were three wash basins,
three showers, and three toilets. The
only furniture was a jackknife cot for
each man, issued at the carpenter
shop, together with a wooden box
from the Commissary for a chair for
each, and a handful of nails for
ha clothing
ee-story hotel in Culebra was
newly completed and the men ate
in the dining room there, using meal
tickets. The cost of each meal was
30 cents

Pay 56 Cents an Hour
He started work at 56 cents per
hour, but quarters were rent-free.
After 3 months he received a raise
to 65 cents. A 2-cent an hour raise
followed each year until the men
were placed on a monthly pay basis.
The newly-arrived carpenters' first
jobs were on renovation of the old
French hospital, which was above
the hotel, with space for about 75
patients. Next Curtis and his partner
were sent to the Administration
Building hill, to build a toolhouse.
After the Canal construction was
completed April 1, 1914, the Canal
employees began to be moved into
Balboa and Cristobal. The Governor's
Administration Building and concrete

S WA P
OH P
Items submitted for free Swap Shop
listing must be limited to 20 words, not
counting address and/or telephone
number. They must be signed, but
names will not be published. Panama
snb n niployeeso rd th ap ies*r or
Address: Swap Shop, Spillway, Box M,
Balboa Heights.
PORTABLE STEREO record player
for set of golf clubs or what have
you? Phone Balboa 4297 or Box
213, Balboa Heights.
A LOVEABLE pretty kitten, a nice
dispositioned grown cat or one of
several nice dogs for good home
with loving,,care for same! Call
Miss Foster at Margarita 1063 or
stop by the SPCA Animal Shelter
on Brazos Brook Road and see
what's offered.

Passengers' interest in the story of the Panama Canal is obvious in this picture taken aboard the SS Donizetti
during a Canal transit. The photo was taken near Barro Colorado as the Italian Line vessel traveled southbound
en route from Europe to South America. The passengers, on the ship's bridge, are listening to Canal Zone Guade
Jos6 T. Tuii6n. Many passengers ask where the oceans "meet" and are surprised to learn that they don't-that
they're transiting through fresh water 85 feet above the oceans.